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701-0535-00L 3 Credits BSC , MSC , NDS D-USYS , D-ERDW , D-BAUG
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Environmental Soil Physics/Vadose Zone Hydrology

Lecturers & Examiners: Dr. Peter Ulrich Lehmann Grunder, Prof. Dr. Andrea Carminati
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-02-05 16:00:34

Abstract

The course provides theoretical and practical foundations for understanding and characterizing physical and transport properties of soils/ near-surface earth materials, and quantifying hydrological processes and fluxes of mass and energy at multiple scales.

Objective

Students are able to - characterize porous media at different scales - parameterize structural, flow and transport properties of partially-saturated porous media - quantify driving forces and resulting fluxes of water, solute, and heat in soils

Content

Week 1 (September 21): Introduction, content, structure of the course, objectives, bibliography, grading and evaluation; soil texture, particle size distribution, soil structure, soil surface area, porosity and bulk density. Week 2 (September 28): Pore scale consideration, pore sizes, shapes and connectivity, coordination number, continuity and percolation; surface tension; Young-Laplace equation; capillary rise; contact angle. Week 3 (October 05): Friction and laminar flow; Hagen-Poiseuille’s law; Washburn equation; numerical lab (including report) Week 4 (October 12): Soil water content; soil water potential - The energy state of soil water; total water potential and its components; volumetric and gravimetric water contents; field capacity and wilting point. Week 5 (October 19): Soil water characteristics - definitions and measurements; parametric models, fitting and interpretation, hysteresis; Demo lab (including report) Week 6 (October 26): Saturated water flow in soils - Laminar flow in tubes (Poiseuille's Law); Darcy's Law, conditions and states of flow; permeability and hydraulic conductivity, measurement and theoretical concepts (Kozeny-Carman); effective conductivity; unsaturated hydraulic conductivity; Buckingham law. Week 7 (November 02): Unsaturated water flow in soils - Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity models and applications; Richards equation, approximations of Richards equation for steady state; approximate solutions to infiltration (Green-Ampt, Philip); outlook on unstable and preferential flow Week 8 (November 09): Numerical solution of Richards equation – Using Hydrus1D for simulation of unsaturated flow; choosing class project (including report) Week 09 (November 16): Solute and gas transport in soils - Transport mechanisms of solutes in porous media; breakthrough curves; convection-dispersion equation; solutions for pulse and step solute application; parameter estimation; salt balance. Week 09 (November 23): Conductivity and resistance of soils – differences and similarities of hydraulic, electrical, thermal conductivities; Buckingham-Darcy, Fourier, and Archie’s law; pore scale characteristics and effective conductivities; soil thermal properties; steady state and non-steady heat flow Week 11 (November 30): Energy balance and land atmosphere interactions - Radiation and energy balance; evapotranspiration, potential and actual evaporation, definitions and estimation; evaporation stages and characteristic length Week 12 (December 07): Root water uptake and transpiration – Mechanisms controlling root water uptake; hydraulic properties of rhizosphere; plant and stomatal conductance Week 13 (December 14): Summary, questions, old exam Week 14 (December 21): Written Semester-end exam

Resources

Literature

Supplemental textbook (not mandatory) -Introduction to Environmental Soil Physics, by: D. Hillel

General Information

Language
English
Levels
BSC , MSC , NDS
Frequency
Yearly recurring

Examination

Type
end-of-semester examination
Mode
written 105 minutes
Aids
None

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
lecture Environmental Soil Physics/Vadose Zone Hydrology
  • Wed 16:15-18:00 (CHN E 46)
2 h weekly
exercise Environmental Soil Physics/Vadose Zone Hydrology
  • Wed 18:15-19:00 (CHN E 46)
1 h weekly

Offered In